California redistricting commission faces legal challenges

Yahoo News has the story:

The California Supreme Court has been asked to fire the state independent redistricting commission’s legal advisors and force disclosure of private meetings and research into race-based voting patterns, a legal challenge made as the panel is in the final stages of crafting new political maps.

Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney and member of the Republican National Committee, filed the request Tuesday with the state’s highest court on behalf of a group of GOP voters. This week, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission began considering changes to draft maps released last month for the state’s congressional, legislative and Board of Equalization districts.

The commission is expected to certify its maps no later than Dec. 26.

The legal challenge asserts the redistricting commission “is betraying its founding charter” by not disclosing communications “about redistricting matters with interested parties outside of noticed public CRC meetings” and that its outside attorneys have “a vested interest in the voting district boundaries” being created.

Maybe this kind of crazy line-drawing has something to do with it.  Certainly the Crescenta Valley Weekly thinks so.

The newly proposed maps, which were first presented by the Commission on Nov. 2 and were significantly revised just one week later would once again divide the Crescenta Valley and surrounding communities and school districts into multiple districts. Burbank, Sunland and Tujunga would join with San Fernando, Sylmar and Sun Valley to form a district that sits roughly between the 210 and 5 freeways. The northwestern portion and the Montrose/Verdugo City portions of Crescenta Valley that are formally part of the City of Glendale would be grouped with the rest of Glendale and a large swatch of City of Los Angeles neighborhoods that extends all the way to the borders of West Hollywood. And the southeastern portion of the Crescenta Valley and the City of La Cañada would be grouped with Pasadena, Monrovia, portions of Duarte, Claremont, Upland, Wrightwood, Lytle Creek, Crestline and Lake Arrowhead to form a massive district that stretches more than 80 miles from end-to-end and connects the border of the City of Los Angeles to the border of Big Bear Lake. A similar map with similar concerns was presented for the newly drawn Congressional District.

The Commission now has an additional way of communicating with them, by clicking this link: